FGR Bogoso Prestea Limited, the owner and operator of the Bogoso and Prestea mining leases, has signed agreements to restructure its ownership that will support the long-term success of the mine.

The completion of this transaction, however, is subject to approval from the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources.

The company made this known in a statement issued on Monday, February 26, 2024. The statement follows a recent protest by chiefs and people of the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality demanding a revamp of the mine as promised in September 2021 when FGR took over the concession from Golden Star Resources.

The chiefs were particularly angry at the government and mining sector regulators for failing to intervene to address the situation despite several appeals to them.

At a joint news conference held at Himan on Tuesday, February 13 by the various traditional areas in the municipality, the chiefs asked the government to take urgent steps to save the mine whose current state is posing a security threat due to the negative impact on the local economy.

The Bogoso Prestea mine has a proud history dating back to 1912, during which time it produced over 9 million ounces of gold.

According to FGR, since 2017, the mine “has been suffering from declining performance, racking up over $200 million of losses, much of which is owed to local suppliers, government agencies and its workforce.”

“This led to the introduction of a new owner, Future Global Resources (FGR), in October 2020, who have invested considerable sums over the past three years to help cover these losses as well as working with the local team to change the mining method underground and re-open surface mining” the statement noted.

However, according to FGR, the legacy debts, which pre-date the ownership of FGR, along with unstable industrial relations, have undermined the mine’s ability to attract the further investment it needs to stabilise and grow profitable production.

“These issues will now be addressed by restructuring the ownership of the mine to bring in additional financing and bring this important asset back to full operations” the statement noted.

Speaking about the restructuring, Andrew Cavaghan, Executive Chairman of Future Global Resources, said, “The Bogoso Prestea gold mine has the potential to be a Tier 1 gold-producing asset.

We believe this transaction enables us to unlock this potential, delivering a multi-generational and sustainable business for our shareholders, our workforce, and the whole community.”

FGR said further announcements regarding the transaction would be made in due course.